Monday, June 16, 2014

General Motors developing an aggressive marketing strategy for Indian car market

The US carmaker General Motors is working on a project codenamed "Amber," a new platform from ground-up that will build at least three new car models to give a boost to its sagging sales in India and other emerging markets. The move comes after several attempts including its new products - and Enjoy based on Chinese have failed make an impact in India. The new platform will spawn three cars in different segments, a premium hatchback, a compact sedan and a compact SUV for the emerging markets of India, Brazil, Thailand, Russia, Mexico, among other markets.

The global CEO of GM, Mary Barra too is closely following the development of the project. The Amber is planned to be designed in Europe and engineered in Brazil, which will play a lead role in the project. The Amber project has a global potential of 1-1.2 million units, with India expected to contribute about 1.5 lakh units annually to the project, said people close to the development. "With regards to India, the priority is on the compact SUV, but the platform will also have a premium hatchback and an entry level sedan. The projects are likely to be launched in India and Brazil concurrently or within a matter of 6 months," said a person in the know of the development.

But the catch is, if plans fructify, the cars based on this platform will only hit the Indian market by first half of 2018, which is a good four years away. Already its new introductions have not brought the incremental volumes, the company expected. How the company can sustain itself in India with volumes falling and losses piling up, said an analyst who did not want to be named.